Why Decision Makers Should Pay Attention to IKEA’s Green Plan

Soon, consumers won’t be able to just buy furniture at IKEA – they’ll be able to purchase solar panels for their home, too.

IKEA is developing an affordable energy program to help consumers invest in solar and wind energy, Quartz says. Ingka Group, IKEA’s holding company, reported that it invested $2.76 billion in solar and wind energy solutions to power its global operations; the company already has stake in two solar parks in the United States.

“Ingka reports that its green energy infrastructure already generating more electricity than its stores consume,” Quartz says. “The company expects that its entire supply chain will become climate positive by 2030.”

The company has also been piloting the program, called Home Solar Service, in Europe, and is currently available in seven countries; it’s also aiming to make the service available to its 30 markets and millions of customers by 2025.

Why They’re Going Green

The furniture retailer is going green and working to provide cleaner energy to its customers for many reasons. For one, they’re joining the trend of investing in fossil-fuel free power solutions, like many other companies – including Google, Quartz says. Plus, reducing its carbon footprint is key to the company’s continued global success for the long haul.

“We have to do this because we’re here for the long term,” Pia Heidenmark Cook, the chief sustainability officer for Ingka Group, told Quartz. “We want to empower millions of customers to produce and use renewable energy.”

Ultimately, IKEA’s move towards utilizing cleaner energy, and giving consumers access to it for their own homes, is helping them achieve the mission of their People & Plant Positive sustainability strategy: giving people a chance to attain a better life. We want to “inspire and enable more than 1 billion people to live a better everyday life within the limits of the planet,” Heidenmark Cook told Quartz.

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